Birthday Party!

We all had a blast at Sarah's birthday party! Here are some pictures of the fun!

Simply adorable!

Grand Nana was so sweet to help out with Jackson--which included opening and closing the back door with him no less than 100 times!

Once the fire was a-roarin', the kiddos roasted their hot dogs!

Mr. Tom, our dear friend, was so nice to help us with the kids!

Eating and talking around the table!

Jackson taking a break from the action to fill up on some apple juice!

Sarah with her s'more! Yum!

Big J enjoying some swing time!

The two most handsome guys at the party!

After devouring the food, it was pinata time!

The kids were so cute taking turns and cheering each other on!

Jackson even took a couple of turns! He fell in love with pinatas at Daddy's birthday last year, so now they've become a tradition for us!

Picking up the goodies!

Jackson loved the graham crackers and ate at least half a dozen of them!

Then, it was time to open presents!

We hope everyone enjoyed Sarah's birthday party as much as we did!

Party Details

On Saturday night, we had Sarah's birthday party! A bunch of our family was able to make the long drive to be here, and a ton of Sarah's friends came to help her celebrate as well! We did a cookout in which the kiddos roasted their own hot dogs, then made smores. I think everyone had a great time. Sarah's even told us that we're not going to be able to top this party!!

Tulips--Sarah's favorite flower, (mine too!)! Like Jackson's party, we did a picture wall again in the dining room. I really love making these and think I'm going to do it every year for the kiddos!

Another balloon wreath--Sarah really loved this!

I also made some pom-poms that Papa Bear kindly hung up in the foyer.

Bryan and I hung these little holders with battery powered candles from the tree in the backyard.

Apple juice and water.

Hot chocolate bar complete with homemade cocoa and homemade whipped cream!

I loved these napkins from Target, so once I saw these, polka-dots became the decoration inspiration!

The fresh fruit salad was so good!

Bryan's mom beautifully arranged the veggies! Thanks, Debbie!

The s'mores station! We had 2 kinds of graham crackers, 3 kinds of chocolate, and 4 kinds of marshmallows! This was a huge hit!

My Favorite Faces

We have a big wall in our living room that I've never known what to do with since our entertainment center is on that wall. But then I saw this and loved the idea!

So, I bought black foam board for less than $3 a pop, (they have white foam board that would have been cheaper, but buying the black was easier than having to paint it!). Then, I had three of our favorite pictures blown up to 20X30 at Costco. The pictures are $8.99 a piece, but I actually had a gift card for $20, so I got 2 of them for free! Next, I cut off the little white borders, and used spray glue to adhere the pictures to the board with Papa Bear's help. After tucking Jackson in Sunday night, Byran and I used 3M Command Strips to hang them on the wall. They're not perfect because there are air bubbles in some that we didn't see until they were completely dry and hanging on the wall, but I love them! And for less than $20 for the whole shebang, you can't beat it!

Big pictures of my three favorite faces=perfection!

Anniversary...continued

When Bryan came home yesterday, I had part of his anniversary gift waiting in our bedroom--9 balloons, (in colors from our wedding), with 9 reasons why I love him attached to them.

Love!!

Then, we got dressed up and went to Maggiano's for dinner with a gift card from my wonderful dad!

Jackson helped himself to this huge hunk of bread.

"What?! I wasn't supposed to take this whole piece from the bread basket?! But I'm so cute!"

Although we love our children, we would have loved to have gone out to celebrate and eat by ourselves. So, instead of having adult conversations in quiet voices, we had to cut up food, keep Jackson from coloring Sarah's ravioli with a purple crayon while she was in the bathroom, and tell both kiddos to stay seated countless times. We're determined to have a "just us" anniversary night eventually....

Adorable!!

Anniversary

9 years ago today, I said "I do" to my best friend.

I am the luckiest girl in the world to have him as my husband!

Ikea!

At the beginning of January, Bryan took me to Ikea for my birthday gift. Ikea is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world! I love it so much!! It was the best present ever!! I also had over $250 in gift cards from my family, which made it so much fun!

Sarah trying out one of their many chairs! We got a new stuffed animal for Jackson...

...which he proceeded to love on.

He also enjoyed playing with this measuring cup!

Here are just some of the items in our cart!

Beara was such a big helper!

Afterwards, we ate at Salt Lick--which is one of Bryan's favorite places in the whole wide world!

Here is my gift--a new dresser for our bedroom.

(This is mainly for my sister, who texted me no less than 3 times asking for a picture of the dresser!)